Crescent Darkness
by KamikazePyro
Summary: There have been attacks around Whitechapel and all signs point to the culprit being a vampire. Could there be a new vamp in town, or is it something even deadlier?
1. Part 1

**A/N: _The title and title of this chapter are working titles and will most likely be changed at a later date when I can come up with something better. As far as this chapter goes, I might edit it and add some more to it, but for now I hope you enjoy enough to leave a review._**

* * *

The sky above Whitechapel swelled, murky gray clouds descending as if they were grasping at the ground beneath. A feint layer of fog lingered above the grass. Even though it was only eight o'clock, the clouds and fog made it appear as if it was closer to midnight. Darkness swooped in, covering the town.

"Guys, this is a stupid idea. It's already pitched black out here."

"Don't worry, babe. You have me to protect you, and Brock."

Susan couldn't help but feel extremely afraid, even with her boyfriend and two other friends with her. She was an easy person to scare, but something about being out there was especially frightening to her. It was like she could feel something bad was going to happen. Maybe it was just her being extra pessimistic, though. She didn't want to ruin this night with her friends; it was the only night they had together due to differences in college schedules, and she knew how important it was to Todd, her boyfriend, who simply pulled her in close and kissed her on the forehead.

"I just feel weird, like someone is here with us."

Sharing the same feeling was Andrea, Susan's closest friend. The two walked next to each other with their boyfriends on either end, although this didn't help their feeling of lack of security very much. They each had a flashlight and extra batteries, but the fog was making their visibility extremely miniscule regardless.

"I agree with Susan. I think we should turn back, Brock."

Brock, a college football player and big man in his own right, scoffed. He wasn't one to be frightened by many things, but even he could feel the dread that the park was emitting. He couldn't admit that to the girls, though. They'd never let him live it down if he chickened out now. He was the tough guy of the group, and thus had a reputation to uphold. He stopped and turned Andrea.

"Dray, you know I'd never let anything happen to you. I wouldn't have let you come with if I didn't think it was safe. Trust me. Everything's fine. If anybody was here, they'd have me to deal with. I'm an ass kicking machine, remember?"

"He's right," Todd said. "It's just this fog that's making you girls all loopy. It did kind of come out of nowhere all of the sudden, and it's been getting thicker since we've been here…" He stopped himself from continuing any further. He had to keep a positive outlook on the situation. Still, he couldn't help but notice that the fog was growing thicker and thicker the further they ventured into the park.

Susan and Andrea felt a bit of relief, but the thickening fog didn't help matters. Even with the flashlights, they couldn't see ten feet in front of them. The temperature seemed to be dropping slightly as well.

"How much further? Shouldn't we have been there by now?" asked Andrea, jumping slightly at the cracking sound of a twig she stepped on.

"It should be right about here," Todd said, shining his flashlight around their general area, searching for a particular bench. His eyes fell upon a bench about a yard away them, with a small backpack sitting underneath it. "Ah, there we are. Just like he said."

"I don't understand why we had to go through all of this trouble just for some video games," Susan commented, following Todd as he went to the bench.

"Not just any video games, babe. These games were never released outside of Japan, and there were only fifty copies produced. It took a whole year of saving up just to get two of them. The games were banned outside of Japan. Anybody caught with them could do some serious jail time."

"They better be worth it," Brock said, looking around the area. The fog was still getting thicker. He almost couldn't see Andrea standing two feet from him. "Ugh, I know this is a bad time, but I really have to take a wicked pee, dude."

"Don't go far, man. Once I check to see if these things are legit, we're leaving. Even I'm getting a little creeped out."

"I'll be right back." Brock stepped away from the others and into the fog, disappearing from view completely.

Andrea, feeling less secure without him there, slid closer to Susan, who in turn was almost toppling over Todd. A wolf cried out in the distance, perking them all up. Todd quickly got over it, and resumed his examining of the backpack's contents.

Susan's eyes darted from side to side. The feeling of imminent doom filled her with anxiety. Her hands began to sweat. "Todd, hurry up…please."

"I'm trying. It's hard in this fog. I can barely see the cover art, let alone the copyright label."

Scampering footsteps made them all jump, Todd dropping the backpack, the discs spilling out of it.

"Brock?" Andrea called out, gripping her flashlight as tight as she could. "This isn't funny. If you want any tonight, you better knock it off. I'm serious."

Todd cursed as he reached down to pick up the discs. "Son of a bitch. These better not be ruined. Brock, I swear, if you made me scratch these games, I'm gonna find some way to kick your ass."

The footsteps continued to scamper about, this time on the opposite side of them. They turned in the direction of the noise, grouping together closer. Susan was shaking, almost having a panic attack. Andrea was on her way.

"I think we should just go," Andrea said quietly, grabbing Susan's arm. "We should just go, and-and Brock will find his way back o-on his own."

Todd bent over to pick up the backpack, but it was gone. "What the hell? It's gone."

Susan's eyes widened. "W-what do you mean 'it's gone'?" Something was definitely up with their situation. The sky, the fog, the dreadful feeling, the noises, it was too much to be coincidence.

"I'm not leaving without those games." Despite barely being able to see her, he could tell Susan immediately became angry with him. "I did _not_ spend two thousand bucks for nothing!"

Branches cracked near them, very near them. The girls squeaked. Todd flung the light around vigorously, trying to illuminate anything he could.

"Whoever is out there, show yourself! You've had your fun, now stop!" Todd shouted.

Andrea whispered, "Brock's been gone for too long. I'm really scared, Susan…"

Susan tried comforting her friend, slowly caressing her hand, but this was instantly stopped when the footsteps continued again. They switched sides, turning the group around. They switched sides again, turning the group once more.

"There's no way this is one person…nobody can move that fast…" Susan said. Her breathing was labored, and her voice was beginning to crack.

"Stop fucking with us!" Todd bellowed furiously, but he couldn't hide the fear in his voice.

Andrea could feel Susan's fear. The way she was gripping her hand so tightly was enough for her to know her friend was freaking out. But something was off. Susan was holding on a little too tightly; it was beginning to hurt. Even afraid, Susan didn't have this much strength.

"Susan, you're hurting me. Let go."

With trepidation in her voice, Susan murmured, "…I'm not holding your hand."

Andrea's heart stopped. If Susan wasn't holding her hand, and Todd was too far away to, then who was? Her sweat turned ice cold, and her breathing became heavy. With the low amount of courage she could muster, she slowly pointed her flashlight to her hand, finding it clasped by someone's she didn't recognize. It was a darker complexion, and definitely a male's. She gradually raised the light, tracing the arm of the unknown person.

The flashlight was swatted out of her hand, a hiss emitting from the unfamiliar man who remained concealed in the fog and darkness of the clouds. Both of the girls shrieked, Susan bolting away as Andrea was yanked into the darkness. Her blood-curdling scream was abruptly cut off after the sound of flesh tearing.

Todd couldn't make up his mind. He knew he had to get out of there, but he really wanted the games; he'd worked too hard to leave them. Against his better judgment, he got to his hands and knees, feeling out the ground for any sign of the backpack or its contents. His flashlight went out, draping him in complete darkness. The fog enveloped his face, making it harder to breath.

He found one disc, hastily pulling it to him and shoving it into his jacket. The other disc couldn't have been far. He reached out again, running his hands all over the grassy area. Soon he found it.

A red and black sneaker stepped on his hand, crushing his fingers and the disc. He screamed in anguish as he looked up, trying to see who the foot belonged to, but it was useless. It was too dark and foggy to see anything. The foot lifted up, releasing him. He stumbled backwards, turning and running for his life.

"Help me! Somebody, help me!" he screamed as loud as he could. Whitechapel was a small town, but it couldn't have been later than maybe nine o'clock. Someone was bound to hear his screams and come to his aid, at least, he hoped.

He didn't make it very far before he tripped over an unknown object, probably a broken tree branch. He barely had time to figure out what happened when a hand gripped him by the back of his collar and pulled him up. An intense pain surged through his body, like needles were puncturing his neck. His strength was waning, his arms and legs fell limp, and he lost consciousness.

The fog was beginning to clear up as Susan reached the edge of the park. She could see the archway that marked the opening. She only had to make it there and then her car was just outside.

It was the scampering footsteps again, just behind her.

She sobbed, limping as fast as she could toward the wooden archway. Just thirty more feet and she'd be safe in her car. She could make it.

The footsteps grew louder, more pronounced. They were in front of her, and then in back, then to the side, then the other side, then in front, then in back again. Whoever was out there was toying with her.

The terrified girl pressed on. Twenty more feet. She reached the start of the archway, grabbing the railing and pulling herself along. Quickly she found herself tripping over something as she reached the middle of the archway, slamming to the ground. As the fog got thinner, she could see what she tripped over – Brock's body, bloody and sickly looking, a large gash on the side of his neck. She couldn't begin to scream before she heard heavy footsteps behind her. It was the sound of feet on wood, and she knew the person wasn't far behind now at all.

She dragged herself over Brock's dead body. Just ten more feet and she'd be safe.

The person cackled as she moved. He was enjoying himself, toying with her, watching her suffer. He moved swiftly, reaching the end of the archway in the blink of an eye, shocking the girl.

She let out a shrill scream, falling onto her backside and crawling away. She got to her feet, running in the opposite direction of where she wanted to go.

The man moved again, reappearing in front of her in a second. "Boo!"

Again she screamed, this time with a reflexive punch to go along with it. Although her fist only connected for a couple of seconds, she could feel the man's skin – it was cold to the touch. Her punch barely moved the man's head. Even more upsetting was that she still couldn't see the man's face through the darkness. She hobbled back, turning again to run.

Her car was just feet away. She was going to make it. The door handle was in arm's reach.

Finally, she grasped it, tugging to no avail. It was locked. She searched for her keys, alarmed to find that they weren't on her.

She could hear them, jangling behind her. She turned, seeing them glimmer in the sliver of moonlight that made it through the thick clouds, only they were dangling in the hand of the man assaulting her. He cackled again, disappearing and reappearing next to her, slamming her head straight through the window. He pulled her back, wrenching her head to the side, leaving her neck revealed.


	2. Part 2

**_A/N: I apologize for the stupidly long gap between this part and the last. I kinda fell out of my groove until I saw the movie again on Disney tonight. Moving along! I wrote this around midnight, so don't expect anything miraculous. I'm kind of just winging it right now. _**

* * *

Whitechapel High School bustled with activity as the school day began – students filled the hallways like worker bees, teachers did what they could to control the daily morning chaos. It was almost like normal.

Almost.

Still mostly asleep from the previous night, Ethan found his locker, dialing in the combination and opening it to shove his book bag inside. He leaned into it, trying to catch as much rest as he could, even small moments like this.

"Hey, dude, you put a bed in there or something?" asked Benny, coming up next to him.

Ethan groaned. "Why did you have to animate that sponge and starfish for Jane? It took until four in the morning to finally catch them and clean up the mess they made in the garage."

Benny giggled. He recalled the events of last night, finding humor in the fact that a sponge and starfish he brought to life doodled all over the walls and almost brought the garage down. "Sorry. I wanted to try animation, and it seemed like a good idea at the time." His friend responded with another groan, prompting guilt from him. "Alright, how about we go check out that new sci-fi movie that came out yesterday? It's got that hot babe from Battlestar Galactica, and I hear she gets na—"

At this, Ethan perked up with a smile, revitalized. He couldn't pass up seeing his celebrity crush on the big screen. "What time is the movie?"

"Benny!" shouted Rory, jumping in between them.

Not startled by this predictable surprise anymore, Benny sighed, annoyed. "Hey, Rory."

"Guys, guess what? I've got awesome news!"

Ethan responded in suit, "What?"

"You know about those alien ninja games that were banned outside of Japan, right?"

Ethan and Benny lit up. As much as they liked sci-fi movies, they liked sci-fi video games even more. "Ultimate Alien Ninja Avenger Assassin 3?!" the two blurted out in unison, bubbling with excitement.

"Heck yeah! My older cousin managed to buy two copies. He said he'd let me have one! That means Ultimate Alien Ninja all-nighters!"

Erica approached the group as they all high-fived each other, dressed in black pants and a dark blue top that would leave any normal guy wanting more. "I don't even want to know."

Rory opened his mouth to talk, obviously ignoring her statement. "You know those alien ninja games that were—"

She held up her hand in his face. "Nope."

"The ones—"

"Stth! Stop! Don't care."

"Where's Sarah?" Ethan wondered, searching the halls for his vampire mistress but coming up short. The halls were still pretty full, even though class was near to start. "And why are the hallways still this busy? Usually they're almost empty by now."

"You guys didn't hear?"

"Hear what?" Benny responded, gathering the things he needed for his next class.

Erica answered, "Four people were killed last night at the park. Sarah's talking to the Vampire Council about it now."

The three boys were dumbfounded for a moment. Hearing news of Sarah, Ethan was able to ask, "A vampire killed them?"

Erica shrugged slightly. "Nobody's sure yet. I heard it was pretty gruesome, though."

As Ethan began to speak, the bell rang, and the large mass of students began to disperse. Principal Hicks came out of his office, bellowing at the students to move faster to their classes.

"See you geeks later, then," Erica said, turning and smacking straight into a male student, knocking his books out of his hands and the glasses from his face. "Ugh, watch it, nerd!" She stomped off.

Ethan bent down to help the boy with his books. "Sorry about her. Here, let me help you with that." They both grasped the same book simultaneously, Ethan's body freezing. His eyes lit up, a vision flashing before him.

A black sports car ripped out of the front driveway of the school, its loud engine roaring and its quad-exhaust screaming as it flew past students and narrowly dodged an oncoming minivan.

Back in reality, the book was pulled from Ethan's grip. The boy picked his glasses up, giving him a strange look. "Um, thanks." Before Ethan could respond, the boy scurried away, turning the corner.

"That was…odd." Ethan closed his locker, looking to Benny and Rory, who were just as confused as him.

"Well?" Benny urged.

"I'll tell you about it after class. Come on, I don't want Principal Hicks giving me detention."

* * *

As the first class of the day was winding down, Principal Hicks began his normal route, scouting for students who thought bowing out early was a good idea, his signature coffee mug cupped in both hands. The older Hispanic man looked in on each class as he passed by, making sure everything was orderly. One classroom was laughing and enjoying themselves a little too much for his taste, but one look from him through the glass pane on the door quickly shut them down.

Papers rustled at the end of the hallway, catching his attention.

"Who's there? Classes are in session. You better have a good reason for being out here!" he said loudly, approaching the end of the hall.

He ended up at a staircase. No one was there. He furrowed his brow, then took a sip from his mug before turning—

A man adorned in a black robe and ghost mask stood just a few feet from him.

"What—How did you get here? Why aren't you in class?" the older gentleman inquired, startled by the sudden appearance of this person.

The man just stood quietly, the black holes in the mask staring at Principal Hicks.

"Take that silly costume off!" Principal Hicks demanded.

The costumed student slowly shook his head.

Principal Hicks grew fed up with the man. He didn't seem to be taking him seriously at all, and he was the principal! He was not going to stand for this mockery. "Alright, I know how to deal with kids like you. Let's take a trip to my office."

A thin silver object slid out from the sleeve of the man's robe and into his hand.

"A toy knife, huh? You kids these days. Out of your minds. Well, I hope your parents aren't too busy to come pick you up."

Principal Hicks moved forward, grabbing the silent troublemaker by his arm.

Jamming into his gut was the supposed toy knife. Hicks realized it was real – very real – and it was pushed all the way to the hilt, tearing through his insides with ease. Blood leaked out of his gut as the blade was ripped out. The old man dropped his coffee mug, falling forward onto his attacker, who held him up for a moment, tilting his masked head to the left.

Principal Hicks grabbed the man's mask, pulling it away as he was dragged down the stairs toward the basement, his blood dripping out behind him.

* * *

"Just two more minutes, just two more minutes," Benny whispered to himself, tapping his pencil lightly on his desk. Two more minutes until class was over and he could finally hear what Ethan's vision was about. Calculus wasn't his favorite class to start the day with either. He sat in front of Rory, and next to Ethan, but even with them, the teacher made the class incredibly straight-forward and boring. There was no room for fun.

Peering up at the clock above the door, his tapping increased. Two minutes felt like it had turned into another full hour. A ghostly image appeared in the window pane of the door, causing him to drop his pencil in surprise. When he returned from picking it up, the ghost was gone. But was it someone playing actually outside the door, or was it just his boredom-fueled imagination?

The bell rang. Unlike most days, he was the first one out of the room, hurriedly trying to survey the hallways before they became too crowded.

"Whoa, Benny, what's the rush?" Ethan asked, catching up to his friend.

"There was something outside the room. It was black and had, like, a white face…kinda like the killer in that one scary movie." He looked at his friend. He could tell Ethan wasn't buying into his story, prompting a heavy sigh from him. "Oh, come on, dude!"

"Then where did this ghost guy go? Hm?" Ethan exchanged books for his next class, facing Benny, who didn't bother to get his books. "What, did he disappear into thin air?"

"I don't know. Maybe I really did imagine it. I was bored out of my mind in that class. So tell me about that vision you had earlier."

"I saw this car—this black car—and it was going really fast, like, just tearing out of here."

"Here?" Benny pointed to the ground. "As in, the school?"

Ethan nodded. "Yeah. It was really random. More random than usual."

"Hey, guys!" Sarah exclaimed, making her way to the boys with Erica at her side.

"Hey. We heard you talked to the Vamp Council. So what's the news? Was it a vampire?"

Erica and Sarah gave each other tentative looks, like they were having their own silent conversation, trying to figure out what to say.

"Benny!" shouted Rory, breaking through the group to stand in the middle.


End file.
